The Silence Project – Part 1

I was fortunate to be able to attend a talk by Cathy Cassani Adams, (shameless Website plug here) who is a fabulous parenting coach, podcaster, and all around feel good ball of awesomeness. In her talk to a room full of moms of twins, she opened with the importance of self care. Which for Moms is a special kind of challenge; many of us are trying to balance work, kids, marriages, friends, communities and civic responsibilities. Phew!

So when she got to the part about the significance of spending a small amount of time in total silence, many of us laughed out loud. But she elaborated and talked about a really small amount of time. Like seven minutes of time.

Well, I’m a competitive person, so I decided I would try eight. And then it hit me—this would be a great exercise to share with all of you. Hell, I’ll even invite you along on the journey. So here’s the deal. For the next 21 days, I will find eight minutes each day to be in total silence. I’m curious to see what, if anything, will come out of it. Will I become an enlightened, happier, more fulfilled person? Maybe. Or maybe nothing will change. But I’m really excited to give it a try.

Here are a few ground rules, for those of you who will be joining me on this little sojourn. You must sit or lie in total silence, but it won’t count if you are trying to go to bed for the night. You cannot do ANYTHING. No driving (although I suspect that MANY of my eight-minute segments will occur in the car after I pull into the driveway or as I pull up to a client’s office or a random parking lot) No radios. I GUESS some new age-y kind of music, like what you would hear in a spa, would be appropriate. You must try to quiet your mind as much as you possibly can. This is incredibly difficult (for me), but remember, it’s a journey, not a destination.

Now working as a consultant, Kelly sold digital printing for 15 years so she understands the challenges, frustrations and pitfalls of building a successful sales practice. Her mission is to help printers of all sizes sell more stuff. Kelly's areas of focus include client recovery, retention and acquisition, and marketing communications projects.

Kelly graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Political Science and, among other notable accomplishments, co-founded the Windy City Rollers, a professional women's roller derby league.